Columns

THE CARIBBEAN — When my wife, Bonnie, and I took a weeklong vacation to Belize formerly British Honduras, in northeastern Central America, we were both impressed.

The trip came as a retirement present after 28 years of teaching at Highlands

Never having entered Central America before, we couldn’t believe how organized the itinerary was. We flew from Houston but needed to get across to Ambergris Cay, a tiny island whose natives and tourists get around in tiny go-carts whose maximum speed is about 10 mph.

Ever heard a bellowing elephant in heat? Neither have I; however, the sound may sound like someone practicing the baritone sax in the living room. The noise is so unmusical that Java howls while I search for earplugs. Wait! “Java, let’s take a stroll around the block.”

This September, New Mexico Highlands received notice from our regional accreditor, the Higher Learning Commission, that the university is on probation.

While this is something I take very seriously, we as a community cannot let rumor and misinformation derail the positive work we have done and will continue to do to ensure Highlands is transforming to a stronger, more efficient institution we can all be proud of.

New Mexico Highlands is accredited. Anyone who’s graduated from Highlands graduated from an accredited institution.

It was the fifth day in a row Mack had complained and his coworker, Sam, had had enough. Together they sat on a steel beam several stories above the ground with their legs dangling off the edge. They worked hard on the construction site.

A floor at a time the building was being built. But when the noon bell rang for lunchtime, they relaxed every minute they could before the 12:30 bell reminded them they had an afternoon of work ahead.

The City of Las Vegas is becoming more tech-savvy than you might think.

Our water treatment plants have forsaken liquid chlorine and are now using a combination of ultraviolet light and sodium hypochlorite to sterilize water. The sodium hypochlorite is electrically generated on site from common table salt (sodium chloride.)

Our bus driver-guide told us, “There are four seasons here: summer, summer, summer and summer.” And he was absolutely correct.

He made that flippant remark as we rode high up into the mountains of Puerto Rico on Monday. I don’t know how many of the 60-plus passengers even caught the driver’s exaggeration, as many of us were nodding off in the heat and humidity in San Juan.

When many people think about higher education, they think about their careers. Study after study has shown that a person with a college degree is likely to earn more money during their lifetime, unemployed less and contribute more to their local economies.

But there is also a more immediate impact our colleges and universities have on New Mexico’s economy and employment: one in which New Mexico voters have a say.

I often wonder why I have been born at this time in this country. Each day I have been given, I make every effort to live with an attitude of gratitude. I recognize that in the entire history of mankind, no one has ever had the modern conveniences that we take for granted on a daily basis today.

It’s a straightforward question: should judges in New Mexico be required to release dangerous or repeat criminal defendants in jail on bail even when they believe these individuals pose a risk to the safety of others and to our communities?

We, the Committee for Smarter Justice, believe they should not and that our state court judges should have the same authority that federal judges do to deny bail to dangerous defendants in appropriate cases.